Category: Art

Amara Andrew

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11.23.22

Ancient underwater statues/Happy repatriation story/AI-generated art banned/How to piss off Banksy

By Amara is a weekly art and history podcast hosted by Amara Andrew. Each week, we’ll take a quick look at the goings on in the art and history world.

This week, we’re looking at ancient underwater statues, a repatriation story with a happy ending, AI-generated art is banned from largest anime conventions in the U.S., and how to piss off Banksy.

🎧 Subscribe on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts!

MY MINIMALIST PODCAST KIT

For links to all the tools I use to make my podcast happen, check out the post here!

Who is Amara Andrew?

Hi there! My name’s Amara and I’m a videographer, historian, illustrator, and creator living in Chicago.

Read More: Ancient underwater statues/Happy repatriation story/AI-generated art banned/How to piss off Banksy
Amara Andrew

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11.21.22

Piet Mondrian Piece has been Upside Down for over 70 years! 🙃🖼️

Even though it’s been identified as being hung upside down, curators are hesitant to turn “New York City I” by Piet Mondrian right side up…but why? 🤔

And, is there *actually* a right and wrong way to hang this piece?

Transcript

A museum curator at Germany’s Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen K20 museum announced that the exhibition’s highlight piece, “New York City I,” has been displayed upside down since it was first seen in public in the 1940s.

There are actually two versions of “New York City I.” One of them is painted and it hangs in the Pompidou in Paris. That one, apparently, is proper side up.

The other one, though, was made of adhesive tape and is the one that’s seemingly upside down.

The curator saw a photo of the artists’ studio taken in 1944 that showed “New York City I” on an easel in the background with the tightly grouped yellow, blue, and black stripes at the top.

Now, knowing this, you’d think they’d turn it upright, right? It’s a little more complicated than that.

Turning it over to the correct side up could actually damage the artwork because it’s made of adhesive tape. Turning it upside down, the gravity would, essentially, just pull it apart.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

Read More: Piet Mondrian Piece has been Upside Down for over 70 years! 🙃🖼️
Amara Andrew

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11.20.22

Google is Releasing an AI-Generated Art App!

Google hasn’t yet confirmed when the Wonder app will be released. I’m curious, though, if there’s a big enough need for it. Is this app actually something you would want?

Transcript

Within the last year, you may have heard about AI-generated art. Google just announced they’re launching a new app called Wonder to create AI-generated artwork.

They have a few different key features in this app, so it’s going to be the same thing where you can type a prompt into their prompt area.

Not only are they doing that, but they’re also, apparently, building cities with it’s City Dream feature. And then you can also create cartoon monsters with its Wobble feature.

There isn’t a release date for the app yet. It was just announced. I’ll let you know as soon as I know!

🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

Read More: Google is Releasing an AI-Generated Art App!
Amara Andrew

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11.18.22

Is AI-Generated Art Free from Copyright? 🤔

This is going to be a very tricky copyright case because whatever’s decided will set the precedent for how content creators get paid for their work!

Transcript

So, within the last year, you may have heard about AI-generated art, especially with OpenAI’s platform, DALL-E.

AI image generators scrape publicly available pictures across the web to train their algorithm. These images that are sampled are typically copyrighted works that come from a variety of websites, most namely Getty Images.

Getty Images actually just banned AI-generated art due to these copyright issues. So, where the issue comes from is that there is no credit or compensation for content creators who make these original images.

Like I said, Getty is banning AI-generated artwork. They’re using the Coalition for Content Provenance and Authenticity, which is a project that was just formed in February 2021 by Adobe, Sony, BBC, Microsoft, Twitter, and a bunch of other companies, in order to filter out AI-generated content.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

Read More: Is AI-Generated Art Free from Copyright? 🤔
Amara Andrew

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11.17.22

How to Ship Etsy Sticker Orders that are over $10!

This is, hands-down, one of THE most frequently asked questions I get on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, by carrier pigeon…you name it, I’ve received this question there!

In this post, I’m sharing the cheap, easy, minimalist way I send all of my Etsy sticker orders that are over $10. It’s an easy, lightweight solution that’s worked well for me, so hopefully it can work for you, too! 🙂

Don’t Want to Read? Watch Instead!

You can watch how I ship my Etsy sticker orders that are over $10 instead. Click below to watch!

The Supplies I Use

Affiliate links mean that I earn a commission from qualifying purchases. This helps support my work at no additional cost to you. 🙂

The following are all the supplies that I actually use to ship my Etsy shop stickers. I’ve spent a lot of time figuring out the most durable, lightweight and easy system, so I hope it can help you, too!

Brown Kraft Cardstock Paper

I LOVE this Kraft cardstock paper! It’s a really beautiful color and is lightweight, yet durable. I include this as the backing for all my sticker orders. This helps provide an extra level of security and protection for my stickers.

Get yours here: https://amzn.to/3GnnScT

3″ x 5″ and 4″ x 6″ Baggies

While I’m still on the hunt to find a more eco-friendly solution, these little plastic baggies are really great in the meantime! They’re resealable so if you need to add anything else to your customer’s order you can without the baggie looking wonky. It’s also great because then your customer can re-use the baggie as well!

Get your 3″ x 5″ baggies here: https://amzn.to/3TD7doF

Get your 4″ x 6″ baggies here: https://amzn.to/3X6kglp

White Cardstock Paper

This is the cardstock that I use to make my “Thank You” cards. It’s lightweight, yet hefty enough to show to your customer that you care about quality.

In my video, I go into a full-blown tirade on the merits of including a “Thank You” note in your Etsy orders. Please, please, please, INCLUDE A THANK YOU NOTE TO EVERY CUSTOMER! It really makes a world of difference for your customer. You’re showing them that you care that they spent their hard-earned money at your shop. It’ll also increase your chances of repeat customers!

I handwrite every thank you note I send to my customers, however, you don’t have to do that. You can simply include a pre-printed thank you note to show that you care. So, please, for both you and your customer, send a thank you note!

Get yours here: https://amzn.to/3gff3qL

6″ x 10″ Bubble Mailers

Are these the prettiest bubble mailers on the market? Absolutely not.

Are they affordable, durable, and get the job done? Absolutely!

I get the 6″ x 10″ size because I also sell handmade banners, greeting cards, and other larger items, so these are multi-purpose for me.

Get yours here: https://amzn.to/3hQR01X

Shipping Label

And, last, but not least, the shipping label! I use Pirate Ship to ship all my Etsy orders on the cheap. This isn’t an affiliate or anything, I just genuinely love their service!

I live in Chicago, so, on average, I’m able to ship to anywhere in the U.S. for about $3-$4. This will vary for you depending on where you live, so just keep that in mind.

I do want to say, though, that Pirate Ship will show you comparable rates amongst a variety of shipping providers, so you know you’ll get the best deal around. Pirate Ship has helped me save me so much money on shipping! 🙂

How’d It Go?

I hope all of this helped and made sense for you! If you have any other questions or if something didn’t make sense, please feel free to reach out in the comments below or on YouTube, Instagram, or TikTok!

Happy Etsying! 🖤

Read More: How to Ship Etsy Sticker Orders that are over $10!
Amara Andrew

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11.16.22

$77 million Museum Cover-up!

How does a museum not have knowledge or at least footage of the people who broke over $77 million worth of priceless artifacts?!

Transcript

Imagine breaking about $77 million worth of stuff that isn’t yours.

This is a really strange kind of story. Over the past 18 months, a bowl, a teacup, and a plate from the Ming and Qing dynasties were broken in 3 separate incidences at Taiwan’s National Palace Museum.

The director of the museum has been accused of instructing the staff to cover up the incidences and to treat all paper work of these as classified. They deny covering things up. They just say it’s kind of been a “process.”

What’s also sketchy about this, though, is that even though they’ve allegedly checked all their CCTV footage, they were unable to idenitfy who was responsible for 2 out of the three accidents.

They were able to identify who was responsible for one incident, though!

It was apparently a senior staff member who placed an artifact on a 3-foot high desk and it fell off of it. So, there’s one mystery solved!

🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

Read More: $77 million Museum Cover-up!
Amara Andrew

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11.16.22

Ancient Egyptian tattoos/Secret ancient tunnel/4,000-year-old petroglyph vandals/Art spending high!

By Amara is a weekly art and history podcast hosted by Amara Andrew. Each week, we’ll take a quick look at the goings on in the art and history world.

This week, we’re looking at a pair of ancient Egyptian mummies with mysterious tattoos; a secret underground ancient tunnel; 4,000-year-old petroglyphs that were vandalized; and art spending is at an all new high!

🎧 Subscribe on YouTube or wherever you get your podcasts!

MY MINIMALIST PODCAST KIT

For links to all the tools I use to make my podcast happen, check out the post here!

Who is Amara Andrew?

Hi there! My name’s Amara and I’m a videographer, historian, illustrator, and creator living in Chicago.

Read More: Ancient Egyptian tattoos/Secret ancient tunnel/4,000-year-old petroglyph vandals/Art spending high!
Amara Andrew

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11.15.22

Fake Vermeer Painting: Update! 😱

I have an update to the fake Vermeer painting that I covered a few weeks ago! 🎨🖼️

Transcript

So, in Episode 5, we talked about a fake Vermeer painting. The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. figured out that the painting, “Girl with a Flute,” that’s in their collection wasn’t actually painted by Vermeer.

They used formal analysis, which I’ve talked about before in some of my TikToks, where they looked at the physical, visual attributes of the artwork in question.

That is how they were able to identify that this painting may not have been painted by Vermeer. There are some sceptics, though!

So, even though the National Gallery of Art stated that they don’t believe this was painted by Vermeer, the Rijksmuseum stated that they believe this is inconclusive.

The director of the Rijksmuseum stated that because Vermeer took so many different approaches in his career, we shouldn’t rule out that this was painted by Vermeer.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

Read More: Fake Vermeer Painting: Update! 😱
Amara Andrew

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11.11.22

Mysterious 17th century painting identified!

A mysterious 17th century painting from the Sursock Palace was damaged in an explosion in Beirut. It has now been identified as a work created by Italian Baroque artist, Artemisia Gentileschi!

Transcript

In August 2020, there was a massive explosion in Beirut, Lebanon. This explosion killed 145 people and injured thousands.

In addition to the loss of life, many, many buildings were damaged, including the Sursock Palace and Museum, which is the building we’re talking about today.

Much of the palace was destroyed in this explosion and, amongst the wreckage, was this 17th century mystery painting. This piece had extensive damage, but this actually worked out because this was sent to be restored at the Getty Museum in Los Angeles.

When restoration experts at the Getty were working on it, they were like, “Holy shit, this was made by Artemisia Gentileschi!”

This particular painting depicts the Myth of Omphale and Hercules.

It’s supposed to take until 2024 to complete the restoration. Once it’s finished, though, it’ll be exhibited at the Getty and will hang near another recently identified Gentileschi work titled, “Lucretia.”

🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

Read More: Mysterious 17th century painting identified!
Amara Andrew

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11.10.22

The tomb of Santa Claus has been found!

The tomb of Santa Claus was allegedly just found in Demre, Turkey!! That isn’t the only surprise that archaeologists found on this site, though!

Transcript

It’s a little early in the season, but we’re going to talk about Santa Claus, specifically the guy who inspired Santa Claus.

Saint Nicholas was an actual person. He was an early Christian bishop who lived between 270-343 CE.

The reason why we’re talking about Santa Claus is because of the Church of St. Nicholas in Demre, Turkey.

It’s believed an empty tomb that was found within the church during excavation work is St. Nicholas’ original resting place. They also found these really beautiful Byzantine mosaic floors.

There was an old church on this site originally that’s from the 3rd century CE, Byzantine era church. This spot, however, flooded because of rising sea levels sometime during the Middle Ages, so they built this other church on top of the flooded one.

Now, archaeologists are excavating in this 3rd century church, so they’ve found this tomb and also these Byzantine mosaic floors.

🎧 Listen to the full episode here.

Read More: The tomb of Santa Claus has been found!